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REVIEW: One Piece Live-Action Season 2 Review


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Miya543



Joined: 22 Jul 2024
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 11:11 am Reply with quote
I watched the first season twice, and I really liked it, but for some reason season 2 did not work for me. I was bored so often that I skipped through parts once I reached episode 5.
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Slop Slop no Mi



Joined: 27 Jan 2026
Posts: 51
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 11:57 am Reply with quote
Quote:
So far as I'm concerned, Jacob Romero Gibson and Taz Skylar have created the definitive versions of their characters, Usopp and Sanji, as both of the goofballs embody just the right amount of their comic counterparts' cartoonish quirks while still standing tall as loveable heroes in their own right.


Did they finally let Sanji be a pervert this season? That was the biggest flaw and deviation from the original that killed the live-action for me was the complete aversion to anything remotely sexual or fanservicey which is going to be really awkward if they try to avoid all that the more deep they get into the series. The first season seemed like an MCU version of the Strawhats and not very similar to how they were in the manga to me.
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FanGamer24



Joined: 10 Apr 2024
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 12:54 pm Reply with quote
I think you’re one of the few people who actually likes that aspect of his character. From what I’ve seen most people agree the changes made to his character are an improvement on the original.
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<('_')^



Joined: 20 Oct 2023
Posts: 186
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 1:40 pm Reply with quote
Slop Slop no Mi wrote:
Did they finally let Sanji be a pervert this season? That was the biggest flaw and deviation from the original that killed the live-action for me was the complete aversion to anything remotely sexual or fanservicey which is going to be really awkward if they try to avoid all that the more deep they get into the series. The first season seemed like an MCU version of the Strawhats and not very similar to how they were in the manga to me.

This adaptation was made to appeal to the mainstream audience and help introduce the straw hats to them. Keeping Sanji's defects would make for a bad impression and turn people away from the franchise. There's already enough sex-pests irl, we don't need them in our media. Of all the things to discuss regarding this adaptation, why are you so fixated on this?
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Connor Dino



Joined: 20 Dec 2010
Posts: 427
Location: Anywhere. Because "hacked."
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 2:23 pm Reply with quote
Slop Slop no Mi wrote:
Did they finally let Sanji be a pervert this season? That was the biggest flaw and deviation from the original that killed the live-action for me was the complete aversion to anything remotely sexual or fanservicey which is going to be really awkward if they try to avoid all that the more deep they get into the series. The first season seemed like an MCU version of the Strawhats and not very similar to how they were in the manga to me.

I think you are placing an inordinate weight on how much fanservice plays into the One Piece manga. What? Are you gonna complain that Luffy beating Crocodile doesn't make sense became Nami doesn't flash her tits before the final battle? Or that we are really missing out on a """"CRITICAL"""" plot point when Sanji doesn't almost die from bloodloss when they get to Fishman island? Seriously, what are you complaining about here?

Sanji in the live action is a smooth operator. He is a playboy and likes the ladies. That is abundantly clear even in season 1. Oh no! He won't want to be a peeping tom anymore and Brook won't ask to see every female character's panties every other scene. What have the DONE to Oda's vision!!?!?!?!?!?!
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8628
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 4:06 pm Reply with quote
Maybe it's because I've always been more of a respecter of One Piece than a fan of it, but I actually kind of prefer the live-action version to the anime, because of better pacing.

The Chopper backstory really brought a tear to my eye, just as much in the live-action than in any other version.

My only minor gripe is that Luffy's defeat of Wapol is basically just his defeat of Kuro from Season 1.


Last edited by penguintruth on Sun Mar 22, 2026 5:00 am; edited 1 time in total
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Scion Drake



Joined: 25 Nov 2017
Posts: 982
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 7:23 pm Reply with quote
Connor Dino wrote:
Slop Slop no Mi wrote:
Did they finally let Sanji be a pervert this season? That was the biggest flaw and deviation from the original that killed the live-action for me was the complete aversion to anything remotely sexual or fanservicey which is going to be really awkward if they try to avoid all that the more deep they get into the series. The first season seemed like an MCU version of the Strawhats and not very similar to how they were in the manga to me.

I think you are placing an inordinate weight on how much fanservice plays into the One Piece manga. What? Are you gonna complain that Luffy beating Crocodile doesn't make sense became Nami doesn't flash her tits before the final battle? Or that we are really missing out on a """"CRITICAL"""" plot point when Sanji doesn't almost die from bloodloss when they get to Fishman island? Seriously, what are you complaining about here?

Sanji in the live action is a smooth operator. He is a playboy and likes the ladies. That is abundantly clear even in season 1. Oh no! He won't want to be a peeping tom anymore and Brook won't ask to see every female character's panties every other scene. What have the DONE to Oda's vision!!?!?!?!?!?!


Yeah I honestly like Sanji better here than in the anime/manga. He still loves women but he's not an obnoxious asshole and creep about it. Its toned down to where its still funny seeing him strike out but it doesn't completely define his character and he doesn't go to creep levels like wanting to peep on women and perving on an underage Nami like he did in the Film Z movie.

Thinking about it. While I don't except the Netflix show to go that far, I can imagine Sanji won't be as transphobic towards the okamas as he is in the og series nor will the okamas be constantly sexually harassing him.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 20003
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 7:38 pm Reply with quote
I think it helps that the live-action seems to be hewing closer to early Sanji before he got so flanderized post time-skip.
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Blaze_1013



Joined: 05 Nov 2024
Posts: 222
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 9:03 pm Reply with quote
Despite season 1 being so good I still went into this season with some dread. With some fear they wouldn't be able to capture the magic of that first outing. It's insane how wrong that was and how much better this season ended up being. Covering only 60 chapters vs. 100 does a lot to help the story and you can see even more love for the story in this season than the last. I'm so happy the giant name dropped Nika and the changes to how Luffy wins over Laboon is even a step up from the manga. I'm now super excited for season 3 and I really hope they can at least get through the first half of the series.

Slop Slop no Mi wrote:
Quote:
So far as I'm concerned, Jacob Romero Gibson and Taz Skylar have created the definitive versions of their characters, Usopp and Sanji, as both of the goofballs embody just the right amount of their comic counterparts' cartoonish quirks while still standing tall as loveable heroes in their own right.


Did they finally let Sanji be a pervert this season? That was the biggest flaw and deviation from the original that killed the live-action for me was the complete aversion to anything remotely sexual or fanservicey which is going to be really awkward if they try to avoid all that the more deep they get into the series. The first season seemed like an MCU version of the Strawhats and not very similar to how they were in the manga to me.


East Blue has almost no fan service. Like, I'm trying to think through the first 100 chapters and I'm really drawing a blank. So them not having any in the live action is staying true to the source material. Even the content covered in this season only has Nami's top burning off in Little Garden as far as fan service shots go. So yea, this is a really weird hang up to have when the fan service only really starts ramping up around Enies Lobby and I think them probably removing the scene of the guys peaking on the girls at the end of Alabasta is a net positive. But um...they have a pointless scene of Emily in a bikini top in this season so, um...enjoy that I guess.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 7205
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2026 11:42 pm Reply with quote
Scion Drake wrote:
Thinking about it. While I don't except the Netflix show to go that far, I can imagine Sanji won't be as transphobic towards the okamas as he is in the og series nor will the okamas be constantly sexually harassing him.


Maybe I’m misremembering but Sanji wasn’t transphobic towards the Okama the problem was he got stuck on an Island full of them and they in turn seemed to want to do “things” with them. Granted I’m mostly going off his encounter with Bon Clay who at least by all appearances he didn’t seem to have issue with.

Slop Slop no Mi wrote:
Did they finally let Sanji be a pervert this season? That was the biggest flaw and deviation from the original that killed the live-action for me was the complete aversion to anything remotely sexual or fanservicey which is going to be really awkward if they try to avoid all that the more deep they get into the series. The first season seemed like an MCU version of the Strawhats and not very similar to how they were in the manga to me.


How did they deviate from something that wasn’t in the source material?

Fawning over women does not make Sanji a pervert. Asking female characters to show their panties like Brooke does even in jest is. Absalom using his devil fruit to capture Nami, Or Momosuke rubbing his face in someone’s breasts would’ve considered perverted.
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ZelosZoidberg



Joined: 23 May 2018
Posts: 1067
PostPosted: Sat Mar 21, 2026 1:12 am Reply with quote
Still working on it (on episode 5) but I loved the change from Luffy hitting Laboon to singing Bink's Brew to calm him down. One complaint I do have is some shots of the Going Merry are bad (CGI), with the shot of it at the end episode 1 being an example.

Also those two early character reveals in episode 1!!!! I screamed like a little girl!!!
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Fluwm
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Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 1625
PostPosted: Sat Mar 21, 2026 1:24 am Reply with quote
BadNewsBlues wrote:
Maybe I’m misremembering but Sanji wasn’t transphobic towards the Okama.

That's my recollection, too, fwiw. The issue wasn't that any of the characters were transphobic, so much as the manga itself.

A little earlier today I spent some time jumping around the OP wiki, reading up on things (at some point I'd like to give the anime a try, and need to decide which arc to start with; I'm really excited to see the 5th Gear transformation) and stumbled across what appears to be a (potentially more tasteful, less stereotypical) trans character in the Wano arc, so hopefully Oda's improved in the years since. (Note: just checked the wiki and "years" is an understatement -- it's been a full quarter-century.)
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Blaze_1013



Joined: 05 Nov 2024
Posts: 222
PostPosted: Sat Mar 21, 2026 2:56 am Reply with quote
Fluwm wrote:
BadNewsBlues wrote:
Maybe I’m misremembering but Sanji wasn’t transphobic towards the Okama.

That's my recollection, too, fwiw. The issue wasn't that any of the characters were transphobic, so much as the manga itself.

A little earlier today I spent some time jumping around the OP wiki, reading up on things (at some point I'd like to give the anime a try, and need to decide which arc to start with; I'm really excited to see the 5th Gear transformation) and stumbled across what appears to be a (potentially more tasteful, less stereotypical) trans character in the Wano arc, so hopefully Oda's improved in the years since. (Note: just checked the wiki and "years" is an understatement -- it's been a full quarter-century.)


Yea, the issue with the Kamabaka (which I believe is a problematic name of and in itself) is how they depict trans people. It's about as harmful stereotype as you can get. That said, I choose to give Oda the benefit of the doubt here and say it's more from ignorance than any sort of negative feelings.

Spoilers for queer characters and what not in One Piece
spoiler[
Mr. 2 has multiple heroic sacrifices in the series and Iva, a leader of the revolutionary army looking to overthrow the tyrannical world government, is literally "the king of queers" and both of feature prominently when Kamabaka does. And as you said Wano has a trans woman and for the obligatory bath scene we get told they have no mix bathing and not only does the trans woman still bathe with the women, she says how much more comfortable she is doing so. Yamato's queerness is argued a lot in the fandom, but personally when a person born a woman starts identifying as a man, even if it's a specific man, is treated as a man by literally every character in the present, and bathes with the men despite no mix bathing, I'm gonna call them a trans man.
]


Also, Oda talks about a crossdressing performer he enjoyed who served as the basis for Mr. 2 and Iva when they got to voice Iva in the anime in an SBS and when reminiscing about times with Franky's VA when he retired talked about going to queer bars with him. Oda strikes me as open minded about gender nonconformity which for a series with a core message of freedom and the ability to unabashedly be one's self would certainly make sense.
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writerpatrick



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 697
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Mar 21, 2026 9:49 am Reply with quote
It feels like they've jumped over parts of the story, although I suppose that's to be expected given the length of the story. There's also some glaring race-swapping with some of the characters (not Brooks who would be Creole) which is a sign of western expectations. And of course Sanji doesn't smoke but also doesn't have the eyebrows.
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ZelosZoidberg



Joined: 23 May 2018
Posts: 1067
PostPosted: Sat Mar 21, 2026 10:22 am Reply with quote
writerpatrick wrote:
It feels like they've jumped over parts of the story, although I suppose that's to be expected given the length of the story. There's also some glaring race-swapping with some of the characters (not Brooks who would be Creole) which is a sign of western expectations. And of course Sanji doesn't smoke but also doesn't have the eyebrows.
1. It's a South Africa production and 2. They were the best people for the part (loved Charithra Chandran and Yonda Thomas).
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